The Green Clover
by MicoMico
Summary: It's late when House finds Chase at the Green Clover. Being the curious man he is, House doesn't know how to leave anything alone. That night spirals into a relationship that neither House or Chase anticipate and don't want to break free of. HouseChase
1. Chapter One

Rating: For now, T. Although it could be moved up to M, and all smut, if any, will be moved to my LJ. Don't worry, I'll be sure to notify people if this happens.

Summary: It's late when House finds Chase at the Green Clover, drinking whiskey without a care in the world. Being the curious man he is, House doesn't know how to leave anything alone. That night soon spirals into a relationship that neither House or Chase anticipate, and they find themselves entangled within each other, unwilling to move on.

Warnings: **SLASH**, mentions of former child abuse, alcoholism, possibility some smut (if I can muster up the nerve to write it). If there are more, I will be quick to append them to this list.

Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D., nor am I currently making nor intend to make any money off of this story. So don't sue, it's not worth the legal fees.

--

Chapter One: A Hard Goodbye, and an Uncertain Beginning

A night at the Green Clover was very much the same as a night in any other bar. The atmosphere was cozy, nothing at all like those high energy nightclubs. There were a few smokers outside the bar, attempting to get one last cigarette before heading back in. However the scent of cigarette smoke still lingered inside the bar, a testament to the sheer volume of cigarettes smoked inside the bar before the ban in 2006. On a Saturday night, there were many single men hanging around the bar, hoping to break long and unwanted bouts of celibacy. At the far end of the bar, sitting in one of the stools and drinking a glass of whiskey, was a young man with blonde hair and an Australian accent.

It was getting late in the night, and usual crowd the bar drew in on Saturday nights was dwindling. There were still some middle-aged men hanging around the bar, their thinning hair showing the amount of perspiration that was collected on the scalps below. The young women began leaving the bar, often hanging off the arm of a man. Some were blisteringly inebriated, and others were merely looking for a good time. Meanwhile, the young man in the far corner of the bar poured himself another drink from the bottle beside him and attempted to forget about the day's events. It was times like these that he could almost understand how his mother became an alcoholic, it was sometimes easier to just forget about things.

The doors of the Green Clover suddenly swung open, bringing in a cooling breeze from outside. A middle-aged man with a limp and a sour disposition came in and demanded a drink from the bar tender. As soon as he sat down on one of the available bar stools, he popped a white pill into his mouth and washed it down with the shot of tequila the bartender had provided.

Wincing at the taste he said, "You should know by now that I like whiskey better. Tequila is only good for worming embarrassing secrets out of your co-workers at the annual Christmas party. Or obtaining blackmail material." He smirked, a devilish smile coming onto his face. "The pictures I took of the last Christmas party really are worth a thousand words."

The bartender gave House a shrug and gestured to Chase who was still sitting in at the end of the bar, brooding. "He's drinking the last of it. We are getting a new shipment tomorrow, so you can get your whiskey then. If you got a problem, bring it up with Dave, he's the one that ordered the booze last month. If you really want whiskey, you can drive yourself to nearest open liquor store and hope that the muggers won't take advantage of a poor cripple. Or you can try to get him to share."

House looked at the bartender, the look of petulance across his face almost saying, "Only I can call myself a cripple". He then looked at Chase, who was pouring himself another shot of whiskey out of the bottle. His hair was not in it's usual groomed state and he could see that Chase was still wearing his scrubs. He looked horrible, something that he took vague pleasure in after the way that he mouthed off to him in the hospital lobby the other day. Serves him right for suddenly growing a backbone. But... House had no whiskey. It was too late to go to the liquor store safely and he had run out of whiskey this morning. There was no choice.

House walked over to where Chase was sitting and sat himself on a barstool adjacent to the intensivist. After gesturing at the bartender to give him an empty glass, he turned to Chase.

"You're sharing."

Chase looked at House, and expression of drunken confusion manipulating his features. He began to speak, his words slurring to the point of incomprehension. House however, seemed to pick up on exactly what Chase was saying.

"I came in through the door that's... Why am I here? Well I ran out of whiskey, that's why. I foolishly thought that a bar would have some, but apparently they ran out too. And you have the last bottle, so share." House waved the empty shot glass in Chase's face for emphasis. When Chase nudged his whiskey bottle in House's direction, House eagerly poured himself a drink. After rapidly drinking the contents of the glass he poured himself another glass, this time taking in Chase's state disarray and feeling a faint sense of curiosity and concern.

"What are you doing here anyway? Didn't mommy die because she drank too much?"

Chase attempted a punch, but at this point in his inebriated state he missed, staggered, and fell on House. House glared at him before attempting to push Chase off his own body. There were two reasons House was not successful. One, Chase in his drunken state was a dead weight of one hundred seventy pounds, and two, his drunken ex-fellow was using him as a teddy bear.

"You better get off me, or the nurses will be talking about how you left Cameron for me and I broke off my long relationship with Wilson to elope with you in Massachusetts," House paused as he heard Chase mumble something. "How do you know that only residents of Massachusetts can marry there? Is there something I should know about? Because if you're going to continue to hang on to me like that, then I would really like to know my chances of getting laid tonight." Chase muttered something unflattering about House's sexual ability. Before House could retort, the bartender interrupted their conversation.

"Okay you two lovebirds, it's time to break it up and bring it to a hotel room. I'm closing up."

House managed to shake Chase off of him, and tried to shake him sober. "Wake up! I can't carry you home you idiot, don't you know I'm crippled?" Chase mumbled something into his jacket. House sighed in exasperation and shot the bartender a look. "Either you help me sober him up enough so he can walk to a taxi, or you're helping me carry him into his apartment. You refuse and I'll make sure you're fired for mistreating the handicapped."

The bartender shot House a look of pure hatred. "I thought you people were calling yourselves 'handicapable' now."

"Handicapped makes you seem more heartless. Now help me get this idiot sober enough to walk. You have coffee, or something with a decent amount of caffeine? I'm sure that whatever you take to keep awake on the job will do the trick."

"How do you know that I take something to keep awake?"

House snorted, as if the answer were obvious. "You just started working here a little more than a month ago. Up until two weeks ago, you could barely keep up with late crowd. It's nearly two am and your not the least bit tired. Either someone rewired your circadian rhythm, or you finally decided to take caffeine pills. Now if you would give me some so I can give this guy enough of a boost to get him out the door, something that you advocated ten minutes ago."

When the bartender retrieved the caffeine pills, House managed to get Chase to swallow one with the help of the remaining whiskey. It was ten minutes later that Chase was awake enough to form coherent sentences. He was still drunk and his words were still slurred, but he could walk on his own. After both House and Chase walked out of the bar, kicked out by bartender who wanted nothing to do with the two of them, House asked if Chase where he lived, to see if it was worth calling a taxi this late at night.

"I don't really have a place to... stay" Chase wobbled uncertainly and House wondered if he should have doubled the amount of pills. Obviously the recommended dosage wasn't enough.

"I know you have an apartment. And you have a fiancée who also has an apartment."

"My apartment's being fumigated for rats, and Ali-Cameron dumped me today. Something about intimacy issues and how I never open up to her. I thought she cared about me, I mean she-" House interrupted him before he could continue.

"I don't need to hear the whole sob story right now. That being said, you can sleep at my place tonight; consider it a thank you for the whiskey."

"Thanks."

As the two men walked slowly to House's apartment, Chase was feeling the effects of the alcohol catch up to him once more. He was getting nauseous, and knew that he would soon be emptying the contents of his stomach. When he reached the apartment, he immediately rushed towards the bathroom. When he was done vomiting he rinsed his mouth out with House's mouthwash. He saw House in the doorway of the bathroom, an amused look upon his face.

"You finished? 'Cause I want to use the bathroom before I collapse into bed. Get your British ass to bed so I can do the same."

"I'm not British."

Chase felt himself becoming tired once more. He took off his scrubs and settled into the covers on House's bed, not caring that he was about to fall asleep in the bed of his ex-boss. When House came out of the bathroom, Chase could hear him make a biting comment and a command to sleep on the couch, but at this point there was nothing Chase could do but fall asleep.

--

Chase woke up, his head pounding and his body aching. Before he opened his eyes, he felt the warmth that only a human body could have provided. For a moment he thought it was Cameron, until he remembered the fight that had left to the demise of their relationship. He cracked his eye open to see the person that he supposedly slept with, and immediately jumped out of the bed.

Waking up to House in the same bed as himself was a sign to stop drinking, even if he could appreciate that House wasn't entirely ugly when he wasn't conscious. Chase's memories of the previous night were a bit fuzzy. He recalled finishing a bottle of whiskey last night with House, but he remembered nothing after that. Looking down at what he was wearing he found that he was still wearing his underwear and felt better. Chase had no desire to find out how unbearable House would be if they had actually had sex together.

House watched Chase have a minor panic attack at the possibility of having sex with him from the comfort of his bed. House decided to give the young doctor a break, to spare himself from possible weeks of awkwardness between the two of them. After all, he needed Chase in order to further rig the betting pool on the competition between the numbers.

"Don't worry your pretty little head. Your pert white ass remains untouched by me, despite your pleas last night for me to do otherwise."

"I asked no such thing of you!"

"Believe what you want to. Either way, last night will be a night I will always remember." House then got out of bed and limped into his bathroom before Chase got in first and he was waiting outside of the door for three hours to have the chance to piss in his own toilet. Chase watched House limp into his bathroom with amazing speed before collapsing into the bed hoping that House was lying.

Chase laid in bed, trying to remember what had happened the night before. His memory was coming to him in pieces, but by the time House had finished his shower he knew exactly what had happened last night. He knew that nothing had happened between him and House last night, but he felt a slight amount of guilt for imposing on House in such a way. Although he couldn't help but wonder why House would extend such and offer to him.

It wasn't like House to do something out of consideration for another person. Especially if it involved any amount of self-sacrifice. Chase thought about House's behavior some more before he decided that no one but House knew the reasons behind House's actions. He picked up his dingy scrubs in the corner that he apparently flung them to before collapsing on House's bed. After putting them on, he wandered into the kitchen, looking for something to eat before heading over to his apartment. He was starving, and had spent what was left in his wallet on that bottle of whiskey last night. House wouldn't miss a couple of slices of bread from his kitchen. Just as he was fishing out a loaf of bread from the bowels of House's refrigerator, he was interrupted by House's slightly raspy voice.

"I want pancakes. Wilson left some dry mix in a container in either the fridge or one of the cupboards. I'll let you borrow some clean clothes and take a shower if you make be breakfast."

Chase considered House's offer. While he hated having to do menial tasks for House, something that he thought was done with after being fired, he hated being dirty even more. Sighing, he went to look for Wilson's pancake mix.

Once Chase had finished making House's beloved pancakes, he headed towards the shower. Once he finished disrobing, he relaxed under the hot spray, letting go of the tension in his muscles. At the moment it didn't bother him that House was in the next room, looking for the most hideous outfit that he owned in some attempt to embarrass him, or that he had to go back to work tomorrow and face his new ex-fiancée. For the first time in a few days, Chase felt completely at peace, and it was wonderful.

Once he had finished washing himself, he slowly stepped out of the shower and grabbed the nearest towel, and attempted to dry his hair as thoroughly as possible. He doubted that House owned a hairdryer, so he resigned himself to having to let his hair air dry. When he was done toweling the rest of himself off he walked into House's bedroom, the towel wrapped around his waist.

"I'm just going to grab the first thing I see, have anything you don't want me wearing?"

"The leather jacket is off limits. Also, make an effort not to pick the most hideous combination of clothing possible."

"Duly noted."

It took Chase only a matter of minutes to pick out some clothing from House's closet. When he had pulled on a pair of pants and some socks, he wandered into the kitchen, hoping that House had not eaten all of the pancakes. He was in luck, House had not eaten all the pancakes that he had prepared. At the moment House was rather preoccupied with staring at Chase's bare chest. However, his dumbfounded look quickly vanished.

"I wasn't aware that I owned an invisible shirt."

"Very funny House. I'm in a bit of a hurry, I have wedding plans to cancel, and I'm hoping that the caterer will return the deposit."

Despite his excuse, Chase seated himself at the table to eat. House took notice of this, but declined to comment.

"Shouldn't Cameron be doing that? I assume that she planned every little detail of your wedding; down to the cuff links that you would wear."

Chase let out a sigh. "She should, but I want this relationship to be over with already. She wanted to change me into a person that I didn't want to be, and she was meddling in aspects of my past that I wanted to be left alone. If I let her take care of this, then she'll end up wanting to get back together. And I'm through with her."

House raised an eyebrow, almost not believing Chase. "Weren't you the one who was pushing for the relationship in the first place? After all, you were the one you got drunk in a bar last night. Did one night of hard drinking clear your head about your feelings for Cameron?"

Chase looked at House, irritated that he would ask such a question. Chase had thought that House wouldn't meddle in his personal affairs once he had fired him. He should have known better. Just because House had fired him, didn't mean that he was any less interesting. Even though Chase knew the answer, he couldn't help but asking.

"Why do you care? It's not as if it matters to you anyway, unless your suddenly interested in Cameron again."

House smirked, from Chase's tone of voice it was obvious that Cameron's attempts at changing his personality weren't the only reasons why Chase wasn't crawling back to her.

"Why? Because it's interesting, that's why. Now spill."

Chase sighed. There was just no getting around House once he wanted to know something. Chase knew that if he refused to tell him now, then he would probably slowly torture him at work until he got his answer.

"When Cameron dumped me, I realized that it wasn't going to work out between us anyway. I didn't really want to admit to myself that the first girl that I wanted to marry had broken up with me, so I went to a bar and got drunk. Somewhere around the fifth shot of whiskey, I started to notice everything that went wrong with our relationship, and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't have lasted anyway. I couldn't give her what she wanted out of a relationship, and quite frankly I didn't want to give her those things. I should have known it wouldn't last, none of my relationships ever do. I hope you're happy in knowing House, because you've made me miserable. Not like that's a surprise."

With that Chase finished getting ready, and stepped out of the apartment. House stared after him as he left, finishing his pancakes and wondering if Chase would clean his clothes before returning them. He supposed that he should feel somewhat guilty over distressing Chase so soon after a break-up, but he for some reason he found himself rather glad at the recent turn of events. Which, upon further reflection was rather confusing. Perhaps Wilson would have some insight on this new development.

--

AN: And that's it! My first House MD fanfiction that I've posted. I'm very interested in what anyone may think about this, so please leave a review to tell me what you think. If anyone's interested, **I could use a beta**. I need someone to look over my work after I do, bounce ideas back and forth with, and kick my ass into gear when I'm not updating. Also someone who will notify me when they are not available. (That's the most important!)

Please PM me if interested.


	2. Chapter Two

The Green Clover

Rating: For now, T. Although it could be moved up to M, and all smut (if any) will be moved to my LJ. Don't worry, I'll be sure to notify people if this happens.

Summary: It's late when House finds Chase at the Green Clover, drinking whiskey without a care in the world. Being the curious man he is, House doesn't know how to leave anything alone. That night soon spirals into a relationship that neither House or Chase anticipate, and they find themselves entangled within each other, unwilling to move on.

Warnings: **SLASH**, mentions of former child abuse, alcoholism, possibility some smut (if I can muster up the nerve to write it), and slight Cameron bashing (I tried to keep it as low key as possible, but some might see it as bashing).

Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D., nor am I currently making nor intend to make any money off of this story. So don't sue, it's not worth the legal fees.

_I thank everyone who reviewed, added it their story alerts, and put it on their favorite lists. You have all been a great inspiration, and helped me so much in writing this chapter._

_Also, a special thanks to my beta; Linker27, whom without I could not have finished this chapter._

Chapter Two: Bittersweet Solitude

On Monday morning House woke up early, shivering from the early autumn chill and the pain in his right leg. Looking over at the clock on his bedside table he saw that it was five a.m. Too early to be up, and too late to have a cocktail of Vicodin and alcohol to help him go back to sleep. Nonetheless, he took the prescription bottle that was by the clock, and swallowed a pill.

After House had finished brushing his teeth he limped into his kitchen to find something to eat. He searched through his cupboards, and finally found a bag of potato chips that he didn't even know he had. He took a look at the dirty dishes in the sink and wished that Chase had stuck around long enough to wash them yesterday, and possibly cook him lunch. Perhaps it was a good thing that Chase hadn't stayed another day. If House got constant exposure to Chase being domestic and prancing around without a shirt on, then Chase would end up staying for a very long time, if House got any say in it.

Yes, it was much better that Chase had left when he did. Even if he did keep the bed comfortably warm at night. He took one last glance at the messy kitchen before going to his living room to watch early morning cartoons.

--

"So let me get this straight, you let Chase stay over your apartment for the night?"

House was eating his lunch with Wilson seated across from him, bearing an incredulous look on his face. The cafeteria was as noisy as it ever was, and House could see some of the numbers seated at a table near by. At Wilson's comment, he could see that Kutner had spit out his soda in surprise. Big Love handed him some napkins, while Thirteen was busy pretending that her crossword puzzle hadn't just been soaked by soda. Cutthroat Bitch was acting as if she hadn't heard a thing, but he could see how rigid her posture became. The other doctors, Brennan and Taub, were presumably minding their own business because House had yet to spot them.

"Yeah, we also managed to go at until six in the morning. So if you see Chase limping, you'll know why."

Wilson simply raised his eyebrows, assuming that House was simply making up stories in order to annoy him and the numbers who were listening. It worked on Kutner, who was choking on his lunch, but all the other numbers simply took this comment as House being House. Feeling as if they would get no information about their application status, they decided to leave. Although Kutner was still slightly shocked by House's admission, Big Love calmed him down by saying, "You don't really believe what he said, do you? It's House, he lives to annoy people."

Wilson waited until the numbers had left the cafeteria before saying, "Now that your little spies have gone, do you mind telling me why you even allowed Chase to sleep over? You fired him, after all. Unless you're starting to miss your old team again?"

An annoyed expression crossed House's face. "We've been over this. I don't feel guilty about firing Chase. He's learned all he could from me."

Wilson put his hands in front of him in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay. You don't feel guilty about firing him. Sowhy not send him to his own apartment?"

"It's being fumigated for rats, he had no place to stay." House could see Wilson beginning to object that statement, and beat him to the punch. "And he finally broke up with Cameron."

Wilson looked surprised, partially because Cameron and Chase had appeared to have a steady relationship, and also because House seemed almost gleeful about the break-up."You're... happy about this?"

House smirked. "Of course, I won the office pool on how long they would last."

Wilson rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Of course."

House bit into his sandwich, an air of smugness all around him. "You're just jealous because you lost."

"House?"

"Yes, my penniless oncologist?"

"Shut up."

--

Chase hated Mondays.

Being Monday, Chase certainly felt the oppressive gloom thatmorning brought. This Monday wasn't the most cheerful of all Mondays either. Dark grey clouds hung low in the sky, and it was starting to get cold in New Jersey. Chase knew that once it started to rain it would continue all day, despite the weather man's assurance that there will only be light showers scattered throughout the day. On the way to work he managed to pick up a cheap umbrella, hoping that it wouldn't break apart while it was raining.

Shivering, Chase pulled the jacket that he stole from House's closet closer to his body. He had some of his clothing in his locker, but hadn't had the chance to retrieve them after he checked into a hotel room yesterday. He was wearing House's clothes, deeming it too cold to wear his scrubs outside and also because he didn't have the money to buy a new wardrobe at the moment. (He did have to buy some new underwear however, he wasn't comfortable going commando in House's clothing.) With any luck, he would be able to move back into his (hopefully) rat-free apartment by Wednesday, but he wasn't looking forward to cleaning the apartment when he came back.

That being said, Chase was changing once he got into the locker room. He wasn't comfortable wearing jeans and a tee-shirt to work, and House's clothing didn't fit right. The jeans were slightly too long, which led to Chase having to roll them up every couple of minutes, and the tee-shirt was too tight around his chest and arms. The jacket fit him okay, but it was slightly too long for him. When he stepped into the lobby to check in with the receptionist, he could see that a couple of people were giving him odd looks. It embarrassed him, and when he was done with the receptionist, he practically ran to the locker room to change.

When he came out of the locker room he was slightly surprised to see Cameron standing outside, the expression on her face practically screaming "We need to talk". Realistically, Chase knew that he would have to talk to her sometime but he didn't want to do it in a place so public. As self-centered as it sounded, he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his colleagues by a screaming match in the middle of the hospital. He worked with these people for six days out of the week, he didn't want to lose any respect from them. Before he could ask Cameron to have this conversation somewhere else, anywhere else, she beat him to the punch.

"So, I heard you canceled the caterer."

Cameron was angry, something that Chase and every one around him could see. Chase could see some of the nurses gossiping down the hall, while some of the male orderlies gave him pitying looks. In Chase's opinion, she had no right to be angry. She broke up with him, hoping that by thinking he had 'lost' her, he would open up to her in an attempt to win her back. Now that Chase had started on canceling the wedding plans, she was angry that her attempt at manipulation didn't work. Frankly Chase was exhausted, and in no mood to deal with her this early in the morning. It was a Monday, and he had trouble falling asleep in his hotel room last night. The fact that he had a full day of surgery ahead of him didn't help matters.

"Can we just talk about this later Cameron? I have to get into surgery in about twenty minutes."

"No you don't. I called ahead and told them that you had an emergency issue to take care of. You're not expected to be in surgery for another two hours."

Chase stared at Cameron shock. "You lied in order to talk to me about our break-up? Cameron, it's over. You said so yourself. You have no right to do things like that just so you can yell at me."

Cameron's expression softened. "I'm not going to yell at you, Robert. I just want to talk to you about our relationship. I was angry on Saturday; I didn't mean what I said."

Chase wanted to take her words at face value, and get back together with her again. He was happy in the relationship he had with Cameron and it lasted longer than most of the relationships that he had with other women. In his previous relationships, he often broke it off before they started to get too emotionally involved. With Cameron, because she initially only wanted him for sex he didn't feel quite as trapped as he had with his previous girlfriends. Eventually, Chase proposed. He did it because it seemed like the next logical thing to do. He thought that he had finally found someone who understood him, and it didn't seem as if they were going to break up any time soon.

However, after they had gotten engaged Cameron felt like she needed to resolve every one of Chase's issues. She asked about his childhood, about how his mother had treated him and how he felt after she had died when he was only a teenager. She tried to find out information about his family, and the woman that his father had married after he had left Chase's mother. She even went so far as to contact his estranged step-mother in Australia so he could make amends with her. Chase never revealed anything about himself when she would ask him about his past, and she soon grew frustrated with his refusal to answer her questions.

She dumped him, and she had certainly meant it when she did it. That was all the reminding that Chase needed.

"We're not talking about our current lack of a relationship here. Let's go someplace private."

To Chase's surprise, she didn't kick up a fuss about and agreed. Unfortunately the only place that was empty at eight in the morning was House's office. The numbers should still be in the old anatomy classroom, and House never came in to work on time. Chase saw Cameron start to pace around the office as he pulled down the blinds. Before Cameron could get started, Chase sunk into House's chair and started playing with the over sized tennis ball that House always kept by his desk.

"You said you wanted to talk, Cameron, so talk. Since you so kindly made sure that I had the time to listen."

Cameron at least had the grace to look properly ashamed of the stunt that she had pulled in order to get Chase to talk to her. "I'm sorry Robert, but I had no choice! You wouldn't answer my phone calls, I didn't know where you were staying over the weekend, and I knew that you would brush me off as soon as you came into work. I'm sorry about what I said on Saturday, I was just frustrated about knowing so little about you. You knew everything there was to know about my life, I can't see why you are so unwilling to share your past with your fiancée!"

Cameron's speech would have once made him feel guilty about withholding information from her, but that was before things had started to go sour in their relationship. Now her words made him angry at the fact that she would not respect his wishes to keep his childhood to himself. He didn't want to talk about his mother, his father, or any topic that related to his parents.

"Cameron, I never asked you to tell me about your past, it was information that you willingly gave up. You knew that I didn't want to talk about my childhood, and you pushed anyway. You violated my privacy by contacting my stepmother, a woman that I haven't had contact with in over ten years, and afterwards, you still wanted me to 'open up'. I loved you Cameron, but how can you expect that we get back together after you tossed me to the side when you didn't get what you wanted?"

Cameron wore an expression of empathy. "Robert, that's what spouses do! We're supposed to share everything together and help each other through the rough times in our lives. You have problems with opening up, and I was trying to help with those problems. You never talk about your childhood or your parents, so it's clear that you have some underlying issues that relate to that. I was just trying to help you."

Cameron's words made Chase's blood boil. He didn't want his issues resolved, and if he had then he would have gone into therapy years ago. He wanted his issues to stay buried, he didn't want to deal with them ever again. He thought he had made it clear to Cameron when she had first started to push the issue. He told her everything else, yet she wasn't satisfied with the knowledge.

"You weren't trying to help me, you were trying to 'fix' me. If you really wanted to be a good spouse, you should have understood and accepted that it was something that I didn't want to talk about. You should have left the topic alone after I said that I didn't want to talk about it. You shouldn't have violated my privacy by digging into my past. Cameron, I don't want to get back together with you. The wedding is off, you'll get back whatever you paid for it."

Cameron's face fell. "I guess there's nothing that I can do to convince you otherwise, is there?"

For a moment Chase felt slightly guilty about refusing her offer in such a manner. While it was true that he was still angry at her for meddling in his affairs, he cared for her to some extent and didn't want to cause her grief. "I'm sorry Cameron, but I don't think that it'll ever work out. I don't think I would be able to trust you not to meddle. I don't want to face my past, I'd prefer it be left alone."

Cameron frowned, anger making her posture straight and rigid. "I guess I won't be needing this then." She took off the engagement ring and threw it on House's desk. She then stormed out of House's office and never looked back. Chase didn't bother trying to apologize, he was just glad it was over.

Chase looked at the diamond ring and recalled how much trouble he went through in order to get the perfect ring. He looked at hundreds of rings in order to find the right one for Cameron. He spent days asking her friends on their opinions, and even looked through her jewelry box in order to get some idea of her taste in jewelry. Chase found it funny that he spent so much time looking for the perfect ring, and the perfect way to propose, but through the entire process he had never really considered whether or not he wanted to marry Cameron.

Chase slipped the ring in his pocket and went down to the cafeteria to pick up a cup of coffee and something to eat. He still had an hour left before going into surgery, there was no point in starving before then.

--

House clocked out at around five in the afternoon, leaving the numbers to clean up after he left. He could see Cutthroat Bitch make an attempt to organize the mess of files on his desk and it made him smirk. He thought she already knew that any amount of sucking up to him wouldn't affect his decision on his final team. Amber Volakis was a determined woman who took whatever steps necessary in order to win, even if it meant being his lackey. It was a quality that House admired, but she was a bit too ruthless for his tastes. House knew that Amber wouldn't hesitate to sell him out if it meant keeping her job.

He had forgiven Chase's betrayal because he had grown attached to him in the monthsthat Chase had worked under him, and also because he knew that Chase would feel too guilty to try such a stunt again. With Amber, he knew that she would do anything to keep the job once offered. And if he was being frank, which he usually was, Chase's ass was far superior to Amber's ass.

As he limped to his car he saw Chase walking toward his own beat up old car. He could tell that Chase was cold, still unaccustomed to the colder climate of New Jersey. He watched Chase pull the jacket (that House knew Chase had stolen from his closet) closer to his body, and walk his car. With the dim light of the fading sun, House thought that Chase's ass looked as magnificent as it usually did.

--

It was seven in the evening before Chase got to the hotel. The hotel room was suitable to stay in for a couple of days, but Chase could hardly imagine staying there for a vacation. Despite it being only seven, Chase felt exhausted. As he got ready for bed, he resigned himself to another night on the lumpy hotel mattress. Before he went to bed however, he remembered the ring in the pocket of his work clothes. He took the ring out, admiring the way the diamond sparkled against the dim light of his bedside lamp. Chase looked one more time at the ring before setting it down on the bedside table. The soft clink the ring made as he set it down felt liberating to Chase, and he found that he didn't really mind sleeping on the uncomfortable mattress.

As long as he got his apartment back by Wednesday. As much as he didn't mind staying at the dingy hotel, he had no idea how much longer his back could take sleeping in the hotel bed.

--

**Author's Note**: So there's Chapter Two! I would like thank everyone who volunteered to be my beta, it was amazing to see the response that I got for my request.

The next chapter may be long in coming. My finals are coming up. I really hate to do this so soon in the story, but it can't be helped. I will try to get Chapter Three out as soon as possible, and I'm not sure how much of my time will be consumed by studying for my finals. If anything I will try to get it up before New Year's.

In case I don't get to say it before my next chapter is up: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a Happy Yule, and a Merry Kwanzaa!

All I want for Christmas is reviews. (Take the hint people!) ;)


	3. Chapter Three

The Green Clover

by MicoMico

Rating: For now, T. Although it could be moved up to M, and all smut, if any, will be moved to my LJ. Don't worry, I'll be sure to notify people if this happens.

Summary: It's late when House finds Chase at the Green Clover, drinking whiskey without a care in the world. Being the curious man he is, House doesn't know how to leave anything alone. That night soon spirals into a relationship that neither House or Chase anticipate, and they find themselves entangled within each other, unwilling to move on.

Warnings: **SLASH**, mentions of former child abuse, alcoholism, prejudice against sexual orientation,possibility some smut (if I can muster up the nerve to write it.) If there are more, I will be quick to append them to this list.

Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D., nor am I currently making nor intend to make any money off of this story. So don't sue, it's not worth the legal fees.

_A special thanks to my beta, Linker27 who gave up time on Christmas Day to beta this._

--

Chapter Three: An Unforgettable Presence

A few days had passed since Chase and Cameron had broken up for good, and everyone in the hospital knew about their break-up. According to recent gossip among the hospital staff, Chase had broken up with Cameron because he was too afraid of commitment. The rumors that were circulating were plentiful and varied. It was something that annoyed Chase greatly, and provided House with endless entertainment.

It was especially frustrating for Chase when he was faced with the fact that everyone he worked with was privy to a piece of personal information that he would have rather remained hidden. He sat down in one of the chairs outside of the operating rooms and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Doctor Chase?" The speaker was one of the newer nurses on staff, she was young and reasonably good looking. Her eyelashes fluttered up and down in a flirtatious manner and got slightly too close to Chase. Chase moved away from her subtly, hoping that she would refrain from further invading his personal space. He had no such luck, as she sat down in the chair right next to him.

"Yes Nurse...?" Chase reached for her name, while he was familiar with most of the nurses on staff he hadn't been able to get a chance to talk to any of them in the last few weeks. Cameron generally disapproved with his friendship with the young nurses thinking that the single nurses were waiting for a chance to steal him away from her.

"Johnson. But you can call me Cathy..." She trailed off suggestively, and shot him a coy look underneath her lowered eyelashes. With their increased proximity, Chase could smell the cloying scent of perfume.

"I would prefer Nurse Johnson. Now, is there a reason that you needed to see me?" Chase's voice was completely professional, and Chase could see that his tone of voice slightly discouraged the young nurse.

Unfortunately, it did not discourage her enough. "I heard about the break up between yourself and Doctor Cameron. It must be so hard for you right now, and I was wondering if there was anything that I could do to help you cope with your loss..."

A loud, slightly nasal voice, interrupted the refusal that Chase was about give her. "I don't know if you're the proper person to comfort him. After all the reason Doctor Cameron broke up with was because he's _you know_..." House then made a slight waving motion with a limp wrist.

The nurse's eyes widened and she quickly became embarrassed. "Oh I'm so sorry Doctor Chase! You must think me a terrible person, hitting on you that..."

Chase didn't say a thing, he was still watching House with his mouth open in shock. The nurse politely excused herself and found the nearest nurse she could find in order to spread the latest bit of gossip. Chase inwardly cringed in horror. Within hours the hospital would be talking about his 'coming out', and Chase would never have any peace from the rumors. Chase looked at House, humiliation in his eyes. Chase walked into the operating room without saying anything to House.

--

A couple of days passed since Chase had talked to Nurse Johnson and the entire hospital was now under the assumption that Chase was now gay, and it was the reason that he had broken things off with Cameron. Normally a nurse would ignore this information if it was coming out of House's mouth, but Nurse Johnson was new to the hospital, and had not had an encounter with House before the day that she attempted to flirt with Chase.

In the beginning Chase ignored the rumor. It was just gossip, and it usually blew over very quickly once it became boring. He could handle the whispers and the looks. However, soon he began to get offers from some of the male nurses and orderlies. While it was initially embarrassing, he politely refused their offers and denied that he was homosexual. Some of the other doctors had avoided Chase like he was carrying the plague. Chase ignored them, hoping that they would return to their normal attitudes once the rumor blew over.

It was when he was working with a patient in the clinic, and he refused to be treated by Chase once he had heard from someone that Chase was supposedly gay, that he began to get truly angry about the situation. Chase had explained that it was a silly rumor that was flying around the hospital and that he was indeed heterosexual, but the patient still refused to be treated by Chase. Cuddy had later heard about the incident, apologized for the ordeal that he was made to go through, and asked him if he had been experiencing any trouble in the hospital since his 'coming out'.

Chase calmly explained to Cuddy that he was not gay, that it was a silly rumor that was flying around the hospital, and that he was tired of everyone buying into the rumor. Cuddy sat behind the desk of her office, an expression of empathy on her face all though out Chase's tirade. Chase could tell that she didn't believe a word that he said and that she was starting to pity him. His suspicion were confirmed when she apologized for him feeling that he had to cover up his sexual orientation in order to live a more normal life. Chase nearly screamed in frustration when it was apparent that nothing he could say could convince her of his heterosexuality. Before he left, Cuddy asked him to report any problems he had with the staff before he took any legal action against the hospital.

When Chase had gotten out of Cuddy's office, he ran into House who was hoping to avoid clinic duty. Later Chase would have no idea what came over him, but when he saw House he said, "Thank you so much House, for ruining any pretense that any one in this hospital might have for treating me seriously."

House limped away to the old anatomy classroom, knowing that his teasing was taken too seriously by that nurse and now Chase was suffering for it. He felt sort of guilty for his actions because of the situation that he placed Chase into. Despite what everyone in the hospital might have thought about his supposed inability to feel remorse for his actions, it did happen from time to time. However, House never learned how to apologize, and every time he would attempt an apology to a person it would always come out insincere and somewhat condescending. If he apologized to Chase there was a very good chance that Chase would become even angrier at House. House cursed the nurse who spread the rumor. All the nurses should know not to take him seriously, especially when he was insulting someone.

House finally arrived at the anatomy classroom. There was nothing that House could do at the moment, and House knew that he would be talking to Wilson later about Chase, but in the meanwhile he would take out his frustrations on the numbers by making their lives even more miserable than when they had started to do his bidding.

--

House was sitting in Wilson's office eating a sandwich that Wilson had bought him to prevent the left of his own lunch. His gloomy disposition was permeating the air, making Wilson feel depressed and concerned for House. A couple of minutes passed without House saying anything and it wasn't long before Wilson said something.

"You've been sulking for the past ten minutes, what's wrong?"

"I don't sulk, I brood. It's something that better suits my manly, rugged appearance. Sulking is something that only whiny little kids do when they can't have something."

Wilson hid a smile while he reached for his bag of potato chips that House had neglected to steal during his sulking. "I'm sorry, what were you _brooding_ about?"

"It's Chase."

"What about Chase?"

"I may have offended his delicate sensibilities."

"Like that's news. You somehow manage to piss everyone off. Chase has worked under you for years, he should be used to your particular brand of abuse."

House shifted nervously on Wilson's couch. "Well this time I feel..."

Wilson looked over at House, a look of shock on his face. An incredulous tone crept into his voice. "Don't tell me you feel... guilty?"

House avoided looking at Wilson's shocked expression. "It's not that I feel guilty, it's just that I need him to help rig the betting pools. He's the only one willing to split the profits fifty-fifty."

"What did you do? It must have been really bad, for you to feel guilty about it."

House avoided looking at Wilson. "Well you know that rumor that's going around the hospital about Chase?"

Wilson looked at House, knowing what his longtime friend would say next. "You started that rumor didn't you?"

"It wasn't intentional! I was joking, and this nurse who was around us, took me too seriously. The next day, all the gay men working in the hospital trip over themselves in order to get a piece of that ass."

Wilson looked at House, an exasperated expression on his face. "It's been very difficult for him, you know. I heard Cuddy called him into her office after a clinic patient protested against being treated by a 'gay' doctor."

Anger clouded House's face. "Bigot. It's not like he's going to catch the 'gay' virus." As an afterthought he added, "Besides, there's no way that Chase could be gay."

"Because he was engaged to Cameron?"

House looked at Wilson with a pointed expression. "Haven't you seen the way he dresses? No gay man worth his salt would be caught dead wearing the hideous shirts and ties that Chase comes into work wearing."

"Well if you really feel guilty, you could always swallow your pride and apologize."

House looked at Wilson, his face completely deadpan. "When have you ever known me capable of delivering a successful apology?"

Wilson winced as he recalled all the times when House attempted to apologize to a person. It never ended well. He always managed to word it in such a way that it further enraged the recipient of said apology, whether House intended it or not.

"Well, I could always apologize to him on your behalf." offered Wilson.

House thought about Wilson's offer, and then completely dismissed it. "He's known me for too long. He'll see it as you trying to calm him down enough to start talking to me."

"Then do something nice for him. A friendly gesture. Even you couldn't screw that up."

House stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know, if I put my mind to it, I'm sure that I probably could."

Wilson pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. "Buy lunch for him, buy him a book that he'll like, just make a gesture House. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Just do it soon, because I'm not sure how long I can take you moaning about how Chase refuses to talk to you. You're worse than a teenage girl with her first crush."

House smirked. "Is that jealousy that I interpret in your voice? Don't worry, I can share my toys."

"House, you have never been capable of sharing your toys."

--

The day after House had talked to Wilson, the CIA had requested a diagnosis for an agent that was dying of unknown causes. There were a couple of bonuses to the trip, such as the interesting patient and the stunning beauty of Doctor Samira Terzi. On the other hand he had to deal with Doctor Curtis and the stiff CIA agent that brought him here. But all in all, it was rather boring in the CIA hospital. There was no one to torment, and all his toys were in his office.

Currently, House was sitting on the bed next to the one that 'John' was occupying, bored out of his mind.

"So what's wrong with me, Doc?"

House recited what he said to Doctor Terzi. "Selenium poisoning. In large does selenium causes fatigue, vomiting, skin irritation, discharge from the fingernail beds, and hair loss. You ate too many Brazil nuts. They call them "castanhas-do-Pará" down there. Sound familiar?"

John chuckled, his weak voice sounding stronger. "All this... and it turns out that I ate too many Brazil nuts. So, was it interesting treating me? I imagine that you don't get too many people with selenium poisoning in Princeton."

House yawned and put his hands behind his head, sinking into the hospital bed. "It was interesting, until you got better. Somehow I imagined working for the CIA to be more exciting. Although, that doctor was certainly worth the trip."

"I heard you hitting on her. Did you really think you would succeed?"

"You heard her, she was totally into me."

"Yeah, women are so turned on by 'I happen to have a position available on my penis'. She didn't take you seriously for a moment, and you knew she wouldn't. You think she's pretty, but you don't really want to have sex with her. If you did, then you would have made a real move on her a long time ago."

House opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by Agent Smith. "Get ready House, the plane is departing in twenty minutes."

House gathered his cane, and before he left the room he said, "I should have left you to die, then I wouldn't be sitting through your grade-school psychoanalysis. If I wanted insight into my actions, then I would have gone to a shrink way before my friend Jimmy suggested it."

--

It was already dark outside before Chase had found out where House was. He spotted him coming out of the hospital, after Cuddy had assigned him a very large amount of clinic hours. Chase wondered if Cuddy really thought that it would be House who would be completing all those hours. Chase knew that it would be the numbers who would be completing the hours in an attempt to get a position on House's team.

He stopped in his pursuit of House when he heard a female voice say, "I'm going to take you up on your offer."

Her voice was slightly deep, with a bit of a rasp. Curious, Chase glanced at the woman that House was talking to. She was rather striking, admitted Chase.

"Yeah?" House hesitated for a moment. "Well, I, uh, I live a couple of miles from here."

Chase smirked at the amount of hesitation and awkwardness that he could hear from House's voice.

The woman giggled, a sound that Chase disliked instantly. "That's not the offer I meant. I gave notice today."

"I thought you were happy," House hesitated once more, "at the company."

"I lied." Her voice took on a smug quality. "I doubt you'll hold it against me."

An awkward moment of silence passed between the two.

"I'll see you at 9 o'clock on Monday." said the woman before walking away.

It was then that Chase chose to talk to House, and try to return the clothing that he had borrowed from House that night that he had slept over.

"House?"

The awkwardness that House had felt when talking to the woman completely disappeared from House's voice when he first caught sight of Chase. "I thought you were still angry with me over the rumor that the nurse spread."

Chase rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you, but I was under a lot of stress over the last couple of days. I shouldn't have blamed you for causing the rumor, it was the nurse who was dim enough to believe you."

House avoided looking at Chase. "Yeah, well maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. I didn't know that the rest of the hospital would believe that you were flaming, I mean with that wardrobe..."

"Well, it was nice talking to you House." Chase gave House the shopping bag where he had put House's clothing, and started to walk away, not willing to put up with House's abuse any longer.

Before Chase could walk away, House said, "I'm hungry."

Chase was surprised by House's completely random statement. "What?"

"I said I'm hungry. I'm sure you're hungry too. Let's go get something to eat, we'll split the check."

Chase laughed, House's behavior suddenly making sense to him. "You're really bad at apologizing."

"So I've heard."

--

The diner that House had brought Chase to was slightly run-down, and smelled of ammonia, but House insisted that it had good food. The waitress looked at House with a scowl when she took his order, but was rather pleasant to Chase.

"Whatta ya want, Hun?" said the waitress before popping her bright pink bubble gum.

"I'll have a hamburger."

"An how d'ya want that dear?"

"Medium-rare."

"Alright, sweetheart." The waitress finished writing down Chase's order before turning to House. "And you?"

Chase hid his smile behind the glass of soda he had ordered earlier, at the waitress's tone of voice. It seemed that she was very familiar with House's brand of verbal abuse.

"I'll have the steak, medium, with extra fries. By the way-" The waitress walked off before House could say another word, knowing that he was about to say something offensive.

Chase chuckled. "I guess you really do come here a lot."

House looked put out. "You're just ruining the atmosphere. Any other night and the last thing on her mind would have been what I wanted to order from the diner's menu."

"Of course. Because no woman can resist your charms."

"I'm glad you finally see it my way."

Soon enough, the waitress had brought them their food and true to his word, House paid half the check. House then ordered dessert, and Chase patiently waited for House to finish his large slice of pie while drinking a cup of coffee. However, House wasn't making Chase's wait any easier because of the obscene sound that House was making while eating his pie. By the time House had finished his pie, he was amused to note that Chase's face was the color of a ripe tomato.

Chase coughed, his red face slowly returning to its usual pallor. "I guess you really like the pie here."

House answered Chase's question with a smirk, causing Chase to flush once again when he realized that was just a ploy to embarrass him.

"See you later Chase."

"Goodbye House."

House limped to his car, with the shopping bag in hand. Once he arrived home, he rummaged through bag when it occurred to him that he had forgotten to ask Chase what was in the bag. When he looked through it he was very disappointed to find that it was the clothing that Chase had borrowed from him when he stayed over. At the bottom of shopping bag however, was a bottle of whiskey. House looked at the label and whistled. It was a sixty-year old Macallan bottle of whiskey. House had no idea how Chase had managed to get his hands on this bottle, or any idea how much of his soul he had to sell in order to obtain it. On the neck of the bottle was a note, tied with a green ribbon. It read:

_House,_

_My father bought me this as a peace offering once I became of age _

_a couple of years ago. I've never intended on drinking it, so I thought_

_that you might appreciate it more than I ever could. Consider it an_

_early Christmas present._

_Chase_

House looked at the bottle balefully. There was no way that he could just drink this whiskey. A whiskey this rare needed to be saved for a special occasion. Grudgingly, House put the whiskey away where he usually kept his alcohol, and took out a bottle of Jack Daniels instead. After he had poured himself a glass, he sat down on his couch, where the clothing that Chase had returned was scattered. Curious on whether Chase had taken the time to wash his clothing, he picked up his tee-shirt and sniffed it. It smelt just like the detergent that Chase used. Tossing the shirt on the other end of the couch, House sipped at his whiskey, realizing, for the first time in a while, exactly how lonely he was.

--

For those that don't know:

1. When someone does a movement with a limp wrist, it's a signal for gay. I'm pretty sure it comes from the misconception that gay men have limp, girly wrists.

2. The bottle of whiskey that House gave Chase is a real whiskey that's actually very expensive and rare. The whiskey itself is from the Macallan Fine and Rare Collection, 1926, aged for sixty years. A bottle of this is worth $38,000, though it's probably worth more because the whiskey has sold out. (This information was taken from the Forbes website.)

Well, there's chapter three. I'm really grateful to all the readers, who have been so patient in waiting for this chapter. Updates are bound to be more regular from now on, because I have a bit of a break from school.

Oh and consider the following an extra of sorts. It didn't fit in the chapter, but I liked it and thought I would share it.

_The numbers and their opinion on House's bad mood:_

It was three days after the altercation that House had with Chase, and the numbers were getting a bit tired of House taking his annoyance out on them. The first day wasn't so bad, House was just a little more of the jerk that he usually was. However, as House was repeatedly ignored by Chase his mood worsened. When the man in the black suit took House away, they were all grateful for the reprieve. Currently the numbers, minus Brennen, were in the cafeteria in the middle of eating lunch.

It was Kutner who first brought it up. "So what do you think is bothering House? He seems..." He made a vague hand gesture trying to find the right words to describe House's latest behavior.

Thirteen cut in. "Like more of a jerk than usual?"

"Exactly. He wasn't the easiest person to work under before, but now he's become a downright monster."

"He's probably having trouble with his girlfriend or something, he'll calm down in a couple of days." Taub said before taking a sip of his coffee.

"He doesn't have a girlfriend." said Cole.

Amber cut in, her voice concerned. "I hope he gets over whatever is bothering him. The more agitated he is, the more likely that he'll start firing people."

Taub dismissed Amber's concerns. "He has to fire people regardless of whether he's in a bad mood or not. I'd rather he just do it quickly, that way things could go back to normal and I can find out whether or not to look for another job."

--

Merry Christmas everybody!


	4. Chapter Four

The Green Clover

by MicoMico

AN: There have been a couple of reasons for my absence, and none of them are really enough of an excuse. There has been a lack of creativity for this story, although I doubt that it can be called writer's block. I don't really know where this story is going, and am losing my creative drive towards it.

It doesn't mean that I'll give up on the story, it's just that I cannot guarantee when the next chapter of this story will come out. I have the next chapter out as soon as I finish revisions for it, and try to plan out a schedule. I've been holding on to this chapter for about two weeks, waiting for response from someone from the beta-reader's market. The system sucks, because I haven't even so much have gotten a reply. A bulletin board system would have been more effective.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own House M.D., it belongs to David Shore and associates.

_This chapter has been not been looked over by my beta as she currently needs to work on her studies. Her absence has in no way contributed to delay in the update._

* * *

Chapter Four:Wanderlust

_It was unbearably hot. House could feel sweat collecting on his skin, his fingertips, and on the skin beneath his hands. The soft rustle of bedsheets seemed to echo in the bedroom as the person underneath him gasped and squirmed. He smirked and then buried his face in the crook of the person's neck, blond hair tickling the side of his face as he attempted to devour the body beneath him._

_It was when he kissed the person, his hands ghosting over the hard planes of his stomach, that he realized that the person in his bed was Chase._

House awoke with a racing pulse and stained sheets. Recalling the nature of his dream, he groaned. He hadn't had a wet dream in nearly thirty years. This silly infatuation with his former employee was becoming too much for him. One of these days he would have to consider doing something about it.

* * *

It had been three days since House had hired Doctor Samaria Terzi. For three days, Chase found himself driven to the point of insanity. While the rumors about his sexuality were in rapid decline, thanks in part to some intimidation of the nurses on House's part (something which Chase found himself profoundly grateful for), he was being driven insane by the camera crew that was surrounding House's latest patient. Not only was he extremely uncomfortable at his every movement being filmed, he was also becoming rapidly annoyed by the producer's fishing for more information about House.

Some of the questions he expected. For example, the reason behind House firing him. However, some of the questions threw him completely off balance. It was apparent that the producer was talking to nurses who were deeply familiar with hospital gossip. At this moment he was hoping that House could figure out what was killing this kid, so he could perform the surgery and the camera crew would leave for good. Although judging by the complaints that Amber had about the new doctor and House's infatuation with her, it didn't look like they would be solving the case quickly enough for Chase to stop himself from permanently maiming the producer and some of the camera men who were determined to document all aspects of his daily rituals.

House wasn't only annoying Chase by preventing him from committing homicide, he was also hiding in obscure places which led to the producer getting angry with him of all people, something that baffled Chase completely. The producer, without anything better to do, had apparently decided that it would be a good idea to provide background for House, since he was eluding her camera crew.

Cameron's impromptu confession about her feelings towards House had started even more rumors about the nature of the break-up between her and Chase, and while the rumors still annoyed him greatly, some vindictive part of him was kind of glad at seeing her receive some grief from the hospital staff as well. But after a couple of hours of further gossip and pitying looks sent his way, Chase wondered if the nurses would ever move on to talk about something else.

Currently Chase was in the cafeteria, trying to ignore the whispers of the people around him while he attempted to peacefully eat his lunch. He almost succeeded, until Doctor Terzi sat down in the seat across from him. Chase resisted the urge to grind his teeth together; he didn't know exactly why this woman got on his nerves, but he wasn't about to explore the issue anytime soon.

"I heard you used to work for House."

"Yes, did you also hear that he fired me?" snapped Chase as he continued to read the medical journal in front of him.

She seemed slightly taken aback at his harsh tone, and briefly wondered if there was anything that she had done to make him so hostile to her. "So I take it you're still angry about the firing. I can see why, he seemed to have fired you for no reason other than his own whims."

Chase looked up from the medical journal, and took a look at her. She was very pretty, but seemed to be poor at reading a person's emotions. Chase hoped that she had at least some ability with diagnostic medicine, because if she didn't then it didn't matter how pretty she was. House would eventually fire her; once he stopped being struck dumb by her beauty that is.

"I'm not angry. I make more money and enjoy a less hostile work environment without House. Now, what did you decide to interrupt my lunch with?"

Chase was in a bad mood already. An hour ago, he had been informed by the florist, a nasty vindictive woman that Cameron had picked, that he could not get the money he already paid for the flowers back, and the flowers that Cameron picked out for the wedding would be delivered to his apartment later today. He would be billed accordingly for their delivery. Sensing his rapidly decreasing patience, Doctor Terzi decided to get her question out of the way quickly.

"How exactly does one deal with Doctor House? He makes crude comments, and I have a feeling that he will be very difficult to work with."

Chase snorted into his coffee cup. "No one really knows how to properly deal with him. Ask anyone and they'll all tell you different things. If you're stupid, then good luck, because as soon as he figures it out then you're gone. If you're smart, he'll respect you more, but it won't stop him from mocking your abilities as a doctor. I'm sure that you have already noticed your competition, if you haven't figured it out already, you need to be better than them in diagnostics order to get the position."

Terzi gave Chase an affronted look when he implied that she was there to compete against the other doctors for a position. "Doctor House has given me a standing offer, when the company that I had worked for asked him for a consult."

Chase raised an eyebrow. "He still has the ability to fire you. I hope that you don't think yourself above those who are competing for the position, House _will_ fire a person who is not capable of doing the job."

A smugness that greatly annoyed Chase settled on her face. "Is that why he fired you?"

Chase's reply was blunt and dismissive. "No. He fired me because there was nothing more that I could learn from working under him. It was time for a change, and it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I realized that he was right."

It was with that statement that Chase gathered his things and left Terzi sitting at the booth, alone and pensive over her current situation. Chase couldn't find anything within himself to really care about her current situation. House's elimination game with the numbers (and now this new brainless doctor), was getting on his nerves. If House didn't end it soon, then Chase would have to strangle House himself.

* * *

The next day, Chase showed up at work with a runny nose and very itchy eyes, courtesy of the ten dozen white roses in his apartment. Because his allergy-related symptoms had not yet subsided, he was stuck in the emergency room for the morning, avoiding Cameron and waving aside concerns from some of his co-workers. It wasn't a pleasant morning, and Chase had no idea what to do with the flowers that were all over his apartment.

House's voice interrupted Chase's thoughts of setting the flower shop on fire. "Keep sneezing that hard and you might start sneezing out parts of your brain."

Chase sneezed once more. "Tell that to the one hundred and twenty flowers taking residence in my apartment. I feel like someone's taken a hammer to my head."

House looked at Chase, almost not believing his stupidity. "Throw them out. I don't know if you know this, but removing the allergen will eliminate the symptoms."

"I just got them yesterday, I haven't had a chance to throw them away. Do you think Cuddy might want them?"

House looked at Chase with suspicion in his eyes. "I didn't know that you had the hots for Cuddy." Before Chase could deny it, House continued, "She's more allergic to flowers than you are anyway. She would be miserable for days with all those flowers in her office," House paused, thinking for a moment. "On second thought send her the flowers. If Cuddy is miserable because of allergies, she'll probably be too miserable to nag me into doing more clinic duty."

Chase sighed, wondering why House was going to such lengths to make fun of Cuddy, completely oblivious to House's jealousy. "She isn't allergic to flowers, she has a new arrangement in her office every other week. I was wondering if she would want them for the hospital."

House's tone of voice was petulant, sounding very much like a child who couldn't get his way. "If you're wondering whether she would want them or not, then why don't you ask her? That'll end the question once and for all."

Chase colored as he remembered the meeting that he had recently had with Cuddy, missing the way House's face darkened. "I really don't want to ask her; especially after she called me into her office a couple of days ago to talk about that patient that refused treatment. Do you think Wilson will know if she'd accept them?"

"Ask him yourself, he's about to buy me lunch."

"Do you mind if I join you two?"

House made a sweeping motion with his hand. "Lead the way."

The walk to the cafeteria was brief, and House lamented that he wasn't able to ogle Chase's ass longer. They both waited in front of the cafeteria, House tapping his cane on the linoleum floors of the hospital impatiently. They both waited for about ten minutes in awkward silence before Wilson showed up, panting and out of breath.

"It's about time."

Wilson shot House a glare while still attempting to catch his breath. "I was with a patient. Is it so hard to wait ten minutes?"

"It is when I'm starving. Oh and by the way, this one," House jabbed his thumb in Chase's direction, "will be joining us."

"I hope you don't mind, but I have a question for you." said Chase as the three of them walked into the cafeteria.

Wilson looked at the food that was available before replying. "Of course I don't mind. So what's the question?"

"I was wondering if Cuddy would accept a particularly large amount of flowers for the hospital."

Seeing that Wilson was about to jump to the wrong conclusion, Chase quickly explained his situation. After he explained the evils of the florist that Cameron had picked out for the wedding, Wilson was happy to help him dispose of the flowers that were making his life miserable. Wilson advised that it would be wise to send the flowers as an anonymous donor, to avoid Cuddy hitting him up for actual money in the future.

When they had all sat down and started to eat their lunch, it was Wilson who brought it up. "So how's the wedding cancellation going? I know it can be pretty stressful."

Chase finished chewing before answering. "It's going alright. The only thing that's really left is canceling the wedding invitations." Chase looked slightly tired at the mention of his canceled wedding. Since he had confronted Cameron about his desire to remain apart, she had decided that he should be the one taking care of the cancellations. Which meant that the majority of his free time was spent calling a variety of businesses and distant relatives (and getting verbally abused by said relatives).

House picked up on Chase's fatigue right away, and pushed his mostly full coffee cup towards Chase. "Take it, you need the caffeine more than I do." When he saw the shocked faces of both Wilson and Chase, he quickly added to his statement. "We can't have you falling asleep during surgery and getting fired, can we? There's no one else in this hospital who is willing to rig betting pools in my favor."

Chase tentatively sipped at the offered coffee, slightly suspicious of House's generous offer. "Thanks, House."

The rest of the lunch passed without much fanfare, although Wilson did notice how much House continued to look at Chase. House had looked upon Chase with burning eyes all throughout the lunch hour. In fact, Wilson was surprised that Chase hadn't noticed it himself. It wasn't until Chase had left for clinic duty and House and Wilson had migrated to Wilson's office that he mentioned it to House.

"So what was so interesting about Chase during lunch? You were actually paying attention to him. If you're not careful people might actually start to think that you can give a damn."

House looked away, suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting. "He's pretty, what more reason do I need? He's like Cameron; pleasant to look at but isn't as annoying as her. Doesn't mean that I'm interested in him or anything."

Wilson smirked. "I'm sure that's the case. Which perfectly explains why you find him so interesting right now, and not during the three years that he spent working for you. It also explains why you are so quick to deny interest in him before I had even asked you anything about him. Yeah, you're not in interested at all."

House's face twisted into a sneer. "Very funny. Did anyone tell you that you could have your own talk show? You'd totally kill Oprah and Dr. Phil in the ratings."

Wilson gave House a look that warned him to stop avoiding the issue. "Seriously House, you're behaving oddly around Chase. You're nicer to him than you were before, and he seems to have taken a liking to you as well."

House snorted, dismissing Wilson's observation. "He's always liked me; he was constantly trying to suck up to me when he was working for me."

Wilson sighed, not believing House's obtuseness. "He sucked up to you before because he was worried about losing his job. He has no reason to suck up to you now. I think he actually likes you now."

House stroked the stubble on his chin while considering Wilson's statement. "I can still make life very difficult for him at the hospital."

Wilson gave House a pointed look. "Because you have so much influence on the hospital staff. Admit it House, he likes you and he doesn't hold a grudge over you firing him."

House scoffed. "Just because he doesn't act like it, doesn't mean that he doesn't hold a grudge. He fought for his job for three years, and put up with all my shit just to keep his job. Of course he holds a grudge."

Wilson sighed. "Not everyone is like you House. Some people are capable of letting things go and forgiving people. I know it's a foreign concept to you, but you have to start accepting that maybe he likes you and might even want to be your friend."

House shifted around in his seat, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "What I think about Chase is completely inappropriate for any friendship that could arise from our interaction."

Wilson looked slightly confused before the implications what House said finally hit him. "You like him!" When House didn't respond, Wilson continued; "This isn't about how attractive you find him; you like him. This is exactly how it was with Stacy, I can't believe I missed it."

House crossed his arms petulantly. "This thing with Chase is nothing like what I had with Stacy."

Wilson scoffed. "Please. I should have seen it when you offered him your coffee. You never look out for anyone's welfare unless it directly benefits you, and you offered Chase your coffee for no other reason than that he looked tired. You're pathetic."

"Shut up Wilson."

* * *

Chase sighed in relief as he reveled in the fact that he would no longer have to avoid camera crews and be able to finally walk around the hospital in peace. Truth be told, he was also glad that the new doctor that House had apparently given a 'standing offer' to was finally fired. Chase didn't deny that she was very beautiful, but there was something about her that annoyed him greatly, something that he could never quite put his finger on. It was probably her holier than thou attitude, it was certainly an aspect of her personality that grated on many of the nurses' nerves.

It wasn't a very busy day at the hospital for Chase, he had just finished clinic duty and only had to do a minor surgery in the morning. Although it was still too cold outside for his taste, it was still quite nice outside. There was no immediate need for him in the surgery room, so Chase figured that he could take a long lunch in the outside dining area of the hospital. The last thing that Chase would have expected to happen in the empty dinning area was Cameron storming up to him, red in the face. And he certainly didn't expect her to slap him.

"How could you?" said Cameron in a low, angry whisper.

Though the slap stung, both on a physical and emotional level, Chase held his composure and calmly asked; "What is your problem with me this time?"

It was a response that Cameron had not been expecting. She expected that he would get up and yell at her as well, demanding what she was so angry about and then they would have a big and ugly fight. Regaining her composure, and feeling just a touch guilty as Chase's cheek began to redden, she remembered what angered her so much in the first place.

"My mother just called me. Apparently she doesn't understand what caused me to become a frigid bitch and dump you so suddenly. I suffered through a twenty minute phone call as she constantly harped on about how fortunate I was to have found a man like you. What did you tell her about how we broke up? Suddenly I'm the bad guy, and my entire family thinks that you're suffering through some horrible ordeal. And now that my mother's called, I'm going to be receiving calls from everyone else in the family asking why I dumped such a charismatic young man with such a _promising_ career."

Throughout Cameron's rant, neither one of them noticed the distinctive thump of a cane hitting the concrete pavement. When Chase finally opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted. "I wouldn't blame him if he did say nasty things about you to your family. After all shouldn't you have been the one to tell them that you really hadn't found you're one true love? That he had just a little too much spine for you're liking, and that he wouldn't obey you the way you wanted him to? Of course maybe it was because you didn't really want to settle for someone that you didn't really love. After all, no one can compare to me." With that statement House ran his fingers through his hair and brushed off imaginary dust off his coat.

"House, this doesn't really concern you. I can handle Cameron by myself." Chase was slightly annoyed that House felt that he had to stand up for him. He was perfectly capable of handling Cameron without House's interference, he didn't need to be rescued like some damsel in distress.

House considered Chase's words. "Alright, I'll let you go ahead and handle it." Chase relaxed, and both he and Cameron looked like they expected House to leave. Instead he sat down across from where Chase was eating his lunch and looked at Chase expectingly. Chase rolled his eyes, attempting to hide a smile.

Looking at Cameron's pinched expression he straightened and said, "Cameron, I shouldn't have been the person calling your relatives about the wedding. They were your family, and therefore your responsibility to tell them. I told them that we broke up because we had a difference of opinion on the way that some aspects of our relationship should be handled. They chose to interpret badly, and because the relationship is over, I saw no reason to protect your image. You can call them up and say I lied to them, I don't really care what you say to them. It's your family."

Cameron's voice took on a pleading quality, one that Chase was all too familiar with. It was a voice that once made him want to give Cameron everything that she would ever ask for, but now it just warned him of an upcoming headache. "I don't understand why it has to be this way, Robert."

Chase pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to stave off the headache that Cameron was causing him. "Cameron, the relationship is over. I'm not willing to salvage it, and I think that the only reason that you want to get back together is because you don't want to move on. It would be easier to reconcile and get married than to have to be alone and single once more. However, I no longer have romantic feelings towards you."

Tears sprung in Cameron's eyes, and for a moment Chase felt guilty about the pain that he was causing her. "We could make it work, Robert. We just haven't been trying hard enough."

"Cameron, I don't want to go back into a relationship with you and you don't want to go back into a relationship with myself. It'll be easier that way, but neither of us will be happy. It's about time that you move on, go see other people and have some fun."

Cameron, stared at him an expression of disbelief in her eyes. Chase's face gave nothing away, his face set in a calm expression. Cameron, soon realized that nothing she could say or do would have the ability to make him willing to reenter a relationship with her. She walked away with her shoulders slumped in defeat, with an expression of misery upon her face.

Before Cameron had completely walked out earshot, House took it upon himself to make the situation even more uncomfortable than it already was. "Why didn't you tell her about our relationship _Robert_?" House said Chase's name in a husky whisper that it made Chase blush and squirm uncomfortably in his seat, while causing Cameron's face to once again become pinched. House then continued with his comment, secretly pleased with how much he could still affect his former employees.

"I guess it would have been too much for her to hear that we've entered into a relationship that's not even in the least bit professional." Cameron stiffened for a moment, and then walked away; her gait much stiffer than it was before.

Chase was suddenly struck with the overwhelming urge to strangle House.


End file.
